Editor’s Note
We met a man who was big in stature and using oxygen with one of the smallest portable oxygen concentrators (POC) on the market. He said the unit was recommended to him by his home care company, but he was always short of breath. When he tried a POC with a bigger oxygen output, his life became a lot more bearable. We later found out, this successful businessman could easily have had his pick of any POC available but relied on others to guide him.
You have to be your own advocate in your life with respiratory problems. Learn all you can about your options. Your physician will know of new medications that may help you but cannot possibly keep up with all the developments in oxygen equipment. You might just inform them of something new that you read about. Maybe they don’t know that a setting of 2 on one POC does not give you the same amount of oxygen that a setting of 2 on another POC does and that a setting of 2 is not the same as 2 Liters per Minute that you get from a tank. You are now empowered with Ryan’s comparison chart to explain the difference! (See pages 14-19.)
Because of drastic cuts in payments by Medicare for oxygen therapy, many companies have gone out of business. If you still have liquid oxygen, consider yourself very lucky! Take that step to get involved in a pulmonary rehabilitation or Better Breathers group for educa tion, support and camaraderie. Nothing will change without your involvement.
